BUFFALO, N.Y. — After a dry stretch from late June to early July, Western New York was on the way to possibly seeing drought like conditions. Thankfully, Mother Nature stepping in to help out within the past two weeks.
In the latest Drought Monitor released Thursday, most of Western New York was removed of it's previous definition of having abnormally dry soil moisture levels. There is still that definition for portions of the Niagara Peninsula, Southern Tier and Northern Pennsylvania.
Still, over 75 percent of New York State has some kind of dry or drought condition. The most severe drought conditions as of July 23rd are upstate in St. Lawrence County.
And it's no surprise Western New York was first included in having abnormally dry conditions earlier this month. From June 24th to July 8th, the region only received half an inch of rain over two weeks. That was also when Buffalo was in the middle of a record heat wave.
But, Mother Nature helped the region out in the next two weeks. From July 9th to the 22nd, Buffalo received 3.2 inches of rain. This rainfall made up for the lack of within the previous weeks, but that's only to break even.
Moving forward, Western New York will need to see around half an inch of rain a week to keep from heading in the other direction. For portions still with the "dry" definition, around an inch a week in the short term. But as of now, it looks like drought conditions will not get worse for Western New York.
